Rosie – known as Rose Cake Diva – made the cake for the 10th annual food and drink festival at Bolton, where the elephant is a much-loved symbol of the town and appears on the coat of arms.

Heart-throb chef James, presenter of BBC’s “Saturday Kitchen” for nearly 10 years, was bowled over by the 200kg cake, standing at nearly six feet tall and carrying a huge box of food and wine on its trunk.

Rosie, who works from her home in Clitheroe, said: “James said he just couldn’t get over how big and lifelike it was. The first thing he did was take pictures and put them on his Facebook page for everyone to see. It was a real thrill meeting him.”

Rosie took 700 hours to make the huge cake, using 150kg of icing and 30kg of white chocolate ganache, on a metal frame to carry the load.

James cut the cake in Bolton town centre and gave the first slice to a girl who was celebrating her sixth birthday, then pieces were handed out to the crowds.

Mum-of-four Rosie (48) started baking speciality cakes for her own children after marrying and starting a family. She had previously been in the Royal Army Corps and was its first female helicopter pilot.

Her previous showstoppers have included a life-size Grenadier Guardsman and Christian Grey from “Fifty Shades of Grey”.